


Radioactive (temporary title cause euw)

by mysteriousmaknae (orphan_account)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Kaihun - Freeform, M/M, sekai - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-08-23 01:02:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8307820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/mysteriousmaknae
Summary: There's an ugly truth behind an even uglier lie.Sehun had not expected bumping into the man by his lake house, but is soon shocked by the story the man tells him. Sehun is determined to help him, but what is this man hiding? And why does the tall and lanky boy from school seem to be so fascinated with Sehun? What actually happened on the day of the accident, and why does it seem like Sehun has been involved with this mess for much longer than he thinks?I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THIS TITLE OK? OK. WE'LL SEE.





	1. The Meeting

y'all gotta comment if you want another chapter cause i haven't prepared one yet lol. anyway hope you like this, it's unedited as fuck but yolo

_______

 

There are whispers and quiet conversations everywhere in the room, voices gossiping shamelessly as the teachers try to calm the gathering of students down.

“Please hear us out,” the principal begs, voice loud and arms held above her head in an attempt to silence the packed lunch hall, “we are to follow certain commands set out by the government. I can assure you that your studies will not be affected whatsoever. Please continue your feast,” she concludes briefly before handing the mic over to somebody else and walking off of the stage, the whispers and conversations now even louder than what they previously were.

Sehun is not sure about how he feels towards these news, adjusting his green tie absent minded and looking down at the untouched beef bourguignon in his bowl. He stares into the soupy substance, slowly processing the information their principal had just told them. They were to share Snowcastle Academy with some strange new students from the south, who apparently had _‘escaped difficult circumstances’_ , which is what people were gossiping about.

It didn’t take long to realise who the new students were, and Sehun’s friends eye the kids’ un-ironed uniforms and tousled hairstyles with disgust. Sehun doesn't mind too much, sitting down in the next class without really caring about the new people. He can, however, understand why other people are exited about this. Snowcastle isn't a very large town, and patterns were rarely broken here. Sehun sighs and turns to the latest page, where he had already started some of the exercises.

“Alright, new students today, cool. Turn to page 48 and tell me what a radionuclide is,” their chemistry teacher, Mr. Kim Minseok says as he walks towards the board, and writes down the topic of the day on the top. The teacher has barely finished the title when Sehun’s hand shoots up.

The day continues rather smoothly, with a fairly packed schedule and a number of classes to attend. It isn’t until he goes to his locker that he realises something is rather odd. The look one of the girls gives him makes him suspicious, and the girl's eyes dart between Sehun’s face and something behind him. Sehun quickly spins around, now facing an unfamiliar boy. Sehun gulps and raises an eyebrow, feeling his stomach tighten a little. This is one of the new students, he thinks to himself. The boy has tousled hair much like the rest of the new people, and his eyes are wide and brown, his abnormally large height making his lanky appearance stand out like a sore thumb. As if he wasn’t already. 

“Uh, you dropped this,” the boy utters, voice dark and low as he hands over Sehun’s locker keys.

Sehun’s eyes widen. 

“Oh,” he exclaims, accepting the keys and smiling a little as he turn to his locker to unlock it, “thank you.”

The boy lets out a nervous laughter, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Sehun isn’t watching him, but he can see his nervous movements through the corner of his eye and wonders why the boy isn’t leaving. He decides to put his things in his locker as slowly as he can, dragging out time and waiting for the boy to leave.  A minute or two passes.

“Can I help you?” Sehun asks, turning around with his jaw clenched as he slams his locker shut.

The boy’s wide eyes widen even more and he shakes his head.

 “I just… I mean,” the boy struggles with his words, eyes locked on Sehun’s hand, “I just wanna know if we can be friends?”

The pitch of the boy’s voice had increased slightly at the end of the sentence, making it sound more like a question than a confession. Sehun’s heart flutters a little; he wants to be his friend? Sehun smiles a little and nods, reaching a hand out again. This time it’s the boy who takes it, approaching him with nervous movements.

“Oh Sehun,” he introduces himself, shaking the other’s large hand.

“Park Chanyeol,” the other replies, face now clad with a wide grin. 

Sehun doesn’t want to ask why he chose Sehun out of all people, fearing it might make the other boy uncomfortable. Perhaps this is how you make friends wherever he comes from, Sehun thinks as he lets go of his hand and starts walking towards the stairs of the school.

The walk back home is short. Sehun has always insisted he walks instead of letting the driver take him. He felt relief at times like these, walking alone on the narrow pathway in the forest. He takes a deep breath, filling his lungs with the musky scent of the meadowland, and takes long steps. Sehun has always had long and lean legs, which allows him to run fast too. Other side effects include fitting very well into jeans, but that’s besides the point. Sehun shivers and brings the blazer arms further down his arms in an attempt to keep in heat, as it is very much autumn and currently mid-October. The clouds hang heavy on the grey skies of Snowcastle, and Sehun’s heartbeat speeds up a little when he thinks about the rain that it holds.

In total it only takes him about ten minutes to get to the large gates of the mansion, passing the guards with a respectful nod and jogging over the gravel on the parking area next to the huge fountain and the neatly cut grass and the trimmed bushes. Sehun had always wondered why a bush would ever be square, but never bothered to ask.

He takes his dress shoes off in the marble floor hallway, slipping his backpack off and heading up two flights of stairs to his bedroom. The walls are a cool shade of white, the bed huge and his desk looking like it comes straight out of an auction at Antiques Roadshow. Sehun has kept it white, some paintings of butterflies on the walls and some freshly bought flowers in a vase on the nightstand. A maid must have changed it while he was at school, Sehun thinks before taking his blazer off and loosening the tie a little before raising it over his head and throwing it on his desk chair. Sehun knows he isn't supposed to do that; it will make the fabric crinkle. He is a bit of a lazy bum, as his aunt would describe it, but brushes it off while putting on a warm sweater and some tight black jeans. He likes this laid back look more than what his parents usually make him dress up in. Sehun picks out his rain boots and grabs the raincoat and umbrella before heading downstairs again.

The walk to the lake house takes about five minutes on a usual day, but today is not one of those days. Sehun feels the drips of water on the top of his umbrella, shivering at the cold wind and walking carefully with a lantern in one hand and two books shoved under his arm. He walks through the forest, stopping when he hears a sound of a twig snapping. Sehun freezes for a second, looking around him before continuing his walk. Strange, he thinks to himself. They never have animals running here these days.

Sehun is a shivering mess as he unlocks the door to his parents lake-house, quickly shutting it behind him and marching towards the fireplace and swiftly lighting it with the lighter right next to it. Sehun waits for the flames to catch before curling up with a blanket next to the fire, opening his book and continuing to read where he last left off. _All Quiet on the Western Front_ by Erich Maria Remarque. The only sound heard is the rain assaulting the windows and the fireplace sparking as Sehun flips page every now and then.  The absolute silence is interrupted when Sehun hears a knock on the door. He flinches a little; had his aunt came down to scold him and tell him he was going to get sick because of the rain again? He hoped not as he got up from the blankets, making his way to the door and furrowing his eyebrows a little. His aunt wouldn’t have to knock, she’d know he never locks the door here anyway.

Sehun opens the door and is met with curious eyes. It takes him about three seconds of staring into the stranger’s eyes before he screeches and tries to shove the door closed again. The man blocks his attempt with his shoe, hissing a little as it is shoved between the wall and the door.

“Wow, you’re stronger than you look,” he whines as he pulls his foot back and looks down at it to inspect the damage.

His voice made him seem a bit younger. Sehun’s eyes are so wide they might just pop out of his head.

“Leave me alone!”, Sehun cries out, trying to jab the door shut again.

The man isn’t having it, and only now does Sehun realise he is absolutely drenched in rainwater and his face looks bewildered yet somehow youthful through the slightly visible stubble on his chin. His dark wet hair covers his eyes, and Sehun finds himself reaching out a hand to move it out of the way. It’s the stranger’s turn to flinch, and Sehun blushes when he realises what he is doing. 

“Sorry”, he blurts out, and the stranger chuckles.

 “I’m forcing myself into your house and _you_ are sorry?”, he asks with an amused grin. 

Sehun finds himself even more flustered, but bites his lip as he considers his options. The man peeks over the teenager’s shoulder, catching a glimpse of Sehun’s books on the floor by the fireplace.

“You’re reading?”, the man asks.

Sehun almost finds it offensive, as if he has assumed that Sehun is illiterate or just dumb.

“Yes,” he spits.

The stranger grins again,  “If you let me into your house I’ll tell you a story you can never find anywhere else, pretty boy.”

Sehun doesn’t even register the nickname as he bites his lip hard and thinks through his options. Would it really be that bed to let him inside? This man looks like he has been through alot, and Sehun finds himself curious as to what story this could be. Throwing his rational thoughts out the window, he gives in to his curiosity.

“Alright”, he finally gives up, sighing and moving out of the way for the stranger to come inside.

Sehun shuts the door and feels his body relax in the regained warmth of the room. The man walks straight to the fireplace, warming his hands above it. His tan skin glows in shades of copper and gold as the flames of the fire reflect on his bare hands. Sehun doesn't realise he is staring, but he wants to know who this man is and how he got here. He chooses not to comment on the muddy boots that have already left marks on the wooden floor.

 “So, what brings you here?”, Sehun asks, letting curiosity get the best of him. The man pushes his bangs out of his hair, finally letting Sehun catch a glimpse of his face. Sehun realises he was right after all; this man was about thirty. He gives Sehun a small smile and holds his arms out to demonstrate how wet he is, dripping in water and creating a pool under him. Sehun blinked, confused.

“Can I borrow some clothes?”, the stranger asks.

Sehun feels a mental smack to his face.

“Oh, right”, he mumbles as he heads over to the cabinets by the couch and digs out some of his old clothes he has left here.

They used the lake-house to change before bathing in the lake sometimes. Sehun chooses a decent looking pair of jean shorts and a sweater, bringing a towel along with it too. 

“My apologies if they don’t fit”, Sehun explains as he hands the clothes over to the man.

He continues grinning as he quickly tugs his shirt off and takes the sweater from Sehun’s hands. Sehun tries not to stare too much as he gets changed, turning away when he unzips his pants. 

“Thanks a lot, pretty boy”, the stranger sighs, sitting down on the floor by the fire.

Sehun almost sits back on his blanket, but decides to hand it over to the stranger instead. He smiles weakly, and Sehun realises he is probably exhausted and hungry. 

“You ought to tell me what happened to you”, Sehun mutters as he heads to the kitchen and pulls out some packets of chips before getting down on his knees and digging through another cabinet.

The stranger pauses a little, seemingly lost in thoughts as his vision wanders into the fireplace.

“I come from Malm", he starts, and Sehun raises an eyebrow but doesn’t interrupt. 

“We were all working, a normal day just like any other. Suddenly they tell us to get out of the city, evacuate every building and they shove everybody into trains. They were trying to keep us safe. I could tell because, well… they looked just as terrified as the citizens did. We were shoved into tightly packed train stations. A lot of people were standing, a lot of people didn’t make it onto the first train either. I had to wait for another hour until my train arrived, and we were shoved into it just as brutally.”

He takes another pause and Sehun peeks over at him, eyes curious as he pours some water into the kettle. The man looked like he was replaying the events inside of his mind.

 “While we were waiting, rumours started spreading like fire. Apparently a reactor in the local nuclear power station had exploded and there were fatal doses of radioactivity everywhere in the city as we spoke.”

Sehun almost drops his jaw.

“This… all happened in Malm? When?”, he asks, curiosity getting the best of him again.

“About three nights ago. The train ride was awful and as soon as we got into Snowcastle I jumped out the window. The others continued to some reserved area, but I wasn’t going to be shoved around like a sheep. I want to return to Malm.”, the man explains, voice determined and eyes reflecting the fire he was staring into.

“Why?”, Sehun asks, walking over to the man and sitting down next to him.

He shakes his head, looking over at Sehun with another smile.

“That’s for me to know and for you to wonder.”

Sehun frowns.

“Thank you for letting me into your house by the way, it’s really cozy here.”

This made Sehun frown even more.

 “This isn’t my house,” he snorts, “this is a lake-house.”

The man raises his eyebrows.

 “You broke into here too?”

This makes Sehun laugh a little, and the man stares in fascination.

“What’s that metal thing inside of your mouth? And did you _really_ break into this house?”

Sehun laughs even more, which only seems to confuse the man. 

“This”, Sehun says, pointing at his teeth, “is a retainer. I had braces before, and this”, he motions around the room, “is my family’s lake house. Our real house is not in the woods.”

The man seemed very confused at this, rubbing his temples.

“So your family is like rich or something? And did you say you had braces? Is that a disease?” 

Sehun giggles even more, growing more fond of this man by the minute. 

“They’re pretty rich, yeah. And braces are metal wires that hold your teeth together and makes you smile prettier.”

Kai takes, without warning, a hold of Sehun’s jaw and brings him close to his face, inspecting his teeth with curiosity. Sehun feels his breath hitch at the close proximity and he’s sure the man can feel it too. He drags his thumb over Sehun’s bottom lip and Sehun feels a sick and twisted urge to suck on the thumb.

“You're probably right”, he then admits and leans back, letting go of Sehun’s jaw.

“Thanks,” Sehun says as he lifts himself up and rushes back to the kettle to turn the heat off and pour some tea into two floral patterned porcelain cups.

 “What’s this book about?”, the man asks after a moment of silence. Sehun glances back at him before putting the two cups on a serving plate and adds some biscuits to the side of them.

“It’s about war and a soldier who doesn’t truly want to participate in it."

The stranger grins a little, and Sehun walks over by his side with his tongue between his lips as he balances the brick.

“So, who is this man?”

Sehun frowns again, too lazy to explain, shoving a tea cup into the other’s grip.

“Be quiet, bottoms up”, Sehun demands as he takes the other cup and sniffs the familiar tea scent.

The man chuckles and takes a sip, humming at the taste.

 “You sure do have a sweet tooth”, he comments and Sehun rolls his eyes as he stirs the tea with his spoon to dissolve the excessive amount of sugar.

 “What’s your name?”, Sehun finally asks.

The stranger glances at Sehun through his bangs, “I’m Kai.”

Sehun nods, “Oh Sehun.”

Kai freezes for a second, eyes widening a little. Sehun almost asks him what’s wrong, but is cut off by the man clearing his throat.

“Do you mind if I stay here until it stops raining?”

Sehun shakes his head, sipping his tea and savouring the sweetness and the warmth.

“You can stay for as long as you’d like. No one comes down here at winter except for me.”

Kai nods and stretches his arms above his head, yawning audibly.

“You’re old.”

 It had slipped out of Sehun without him quite realising. He only notices what he has just said when Kai gives him a strange yet amused look. 

“I’m old?”, he repeats, a playful smirk on his lips.

Sehun gulps and shakes his head, “My apologies, that slipped out!”

Kai seems even more amused at this and he gives Sehun a thoughtful look for a while.

“You’re the stereotypical rich kid yet you’re so… how do i put this; you’re simply interesting, Sehun.”

The younger of the two doesn’t know how to reply to this, and stays silent.

“So,” Kai breathes as he finishes his tea and starts gnawing on a biscuit, “why are you here all alone?”

Sehun shrugs, “I could ask you the same thing.”

The pang of guilt that shoots through Sehun as he registers Kai’s pained face expression makes him want to cry.

 “Wait, I’m so sorry!”, he blurts out, not wanting to look like an asshole.

Kai shakes his head and cracks another bright smile at Sehun.

 “You said sorry.”

Sehun blinks.

“Yes, I’m sincerely apologising, I did not mean to—“

“No, no. I liked it when you said sorry instead of _my apologies_. You sound more relaxed.”

This makes Sehun smile back at Kai. He feels warmth spreading through his chest at his words, and decides he likes this man. The silence is interrupted by Sehun’s phone ringing, and he instantly accepts the call while motioning to Kai to keep quiet.

“Hello?”, he answers, already knowing who was calling him. 

“You have got to return back to your parents’ mansion immediately! Your violin teacher has been waiting for you for almost an hour.”

Sehun feels his blood go cold. He almost forgot about the extra practise round before the performance on Sunday, and gets up from the ground to drag his boots on again.

“I’ll be right up, sorry auntie.”

“Yes, I know dear, hurry!” she coaxes and they exchange goodbyes before hanging up.

 Kai gets up and walks towards the door, munching on a biscuit.

“Where are you off to, pretty boy?”

Sehun winces and puts his raincoat on, zipping it up with a small pout.

 “I have a name, you know,” he mutters before grabbing the umbrella and starting to unlock the door, “I have violin practise that I need to attend. After that I’ll be in my room but I’ll come back tomorrow morning and check up on you. There’s food in the pantries so help yourself.”, he explains quickly without letting the other have a moment to ask questions, quickly slipping out of the door and folding his umbrella open before shutting the door behind him.

He shudders down to the marrow of his bones as he heads back up through the pouring rain to the gates, rushing his steps and feeling dizzy at the thought of what had just happened. _Kai_ , he thinks to himself. What a strange name. As soon as he enters the hall his aunt gives him a spiteful look, shaking her head and turning on her heel. Sehun sighs and heads off to the parlour after taking his wet clothes off and ordering one of the maids to set them to dry in the laundry room.

“You’re late”, his violin teacher comments as soon as Sehun walks into the large parlour, panting as he steps up onto the podium and grabs the violin case.

“Sorry,” he apologises, as he unzips the case.

“Beg your pardon?”, the woman asks, eyes wide and lips letting out a gasp.

Sehun almost splutters as he properly apologises, bowing and chanting _‘my apologies, I wasn’t thinking, please forgive me!’_.

Practise goes somewhat decent, but his teacher is highly irritated with him and doesn’t even comment on the upcoming performance as he leaves the parlour with his head hung low.

 “How did practise go, dear?”, aunt Soo asks as he marches to the kitchen.

“It was alright, I’m just not that hungry,” Sehun mutters as he grabs an apple and heads up to his bedroom.

He doesn’t feel like eating tonight, thinking of million of things to write down in his diary as he half rushes to his bedroom and plops on his bed with a sigh. Only his diary isn't here. Sehun’s hand fumbles under the mattress, muttering to himself as he searches the hiding place thoroughly. That’s when it hits him that the book is still in the lake-house; together with Kai. Sehun gnaws on his bottom lip for a while, approaching the window and stopping in front of it. He looks out into the dark night, eyes roaming the forest he loves so much. Something churns inside of his stomach when he realises Kai is all alone in those woods. Not even Sehun would stay out this late inside of a lake-house, even if it was on his family’s property. He considers his options for a little, debating on whether to go out or to simply stay where it was warm and dry. Sehun glances over to his bed, and the familiar environment makes him feel safe. He decides to ignore the guilt and curls up into a ball on his bed, hugging his legs and hiding his face behind his knees, as if to hide from all the problems in the whole world.


	2. Sehun's Diary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for slow updates, this is just how i am lmao. Thank you guys for commenting on the last chapter.  
> Oh and thank you Kristi for taking your time and reading this through with me, <3 it helps me a lot!

 

“Sehun, you have school today”, one of the maids calls from outside Sehun's room, and his eyes flutter open.

“I’ll be down soon”, he replies, voice hoarse from sleep as he rubs his eyes and sits up, stretching his arms and yawning. Daylight spills through the window panels and Sehun feels grumpy as he drags himself out of bed. He had never been a morning person, valuing his precious sleep too much. He gets dressed into his school uniform and heads downstairs after grabbing his backpack. Sehun’s mood instantly lightens when he smells the coffee brewing in the kitchen. He squeals and rushes the rest of the way to the kitchen. Sehun hears a loud sigh and slows his tempo down a little as he greets his aunt with a bow. She always seems to catch him at his worst moments.

Sehun gulps downs his breakfast and is somewhat aware of a certain man waiting in the lake-house. He pouts and shoves two apples into his backpack; one for him later when he gets hungry and one for Kai.

“Auntie, I forgot my diary in the lake-house. I’ll go get it”, Sehun quickly explains before putting his dress shoes on and sprinting over the front yard.

“Don’t ruin your uniform!”, auntie shouts and Sehun giggles as he hurries down through the familiar path. The forest looks much more inviting now that there is daylight, and Sehun is in awe at the sheer beauty that arises when the sunlight reflects on the lake.

 

 

Sehun bursts through the door without knocking and roams the room, eyes in search for the tan man from last night.

“Kai!”, Sehun shouts, walking into the room and passing the fireplace. The fire has been put down, and Sehun finds himself confused.  “Kai where are you?”

There is no reply.

Sehun pouts and plops down on the couch, grabbing the blanket that had been on the floor the previous night. He brings the blanket up to his chest and hugs it tightly, as if to savour the memory. He finds the whole situation frustrating and wants Kai to come back, just so Sehun can scold him.

Two knocks on the already ajar door startle Sehun and he gasps, looking up to see Kai in the dim sunlight. Sehun frowns and stands up without letting go of the blanket.

“You left the lake-house,” he says in a matter-of-fact way.

Kai raises his eyebrow and folds his arms,  “I will not be held bound like a sheep, remember?”, he explains and cracks a smile at the younger.

The pale sunlight looks good on Kai, and Sehun sighs dramatically before dropping the blanket and taking his backpack off and laying it on the couch.

“You brought gifts?”, Kai asks, face perking up as he sneaks closer to Sehun, who simply grins and takes the apple out.

“Sort of.”

Kai snorts and shakes his head, clearly unamused.

“Not even a ‘thank you’”, Sehun mumbles as he passes the apple over to Kai, who catches the mutter with no problem.

“What was that?”, he asks with another cocky smirk, taking a bite of the apple.

Sehun scowls and gives Kai a look.

“I have to go to school. Stay here until I come back”, Sehun sighs before grabbing his backpack again and heading out the door again.

“Have a nice day, pretty boy!”, echoes after Sehun as he hurries up to the parking lot again.

 

 

It is the second class of the day and Sehun’s arm is nudged lightly. He turns around in his chair and is faced with Chanyeol, the same tousled haired boy from yesterday towering over his desk and glancing at his paper.

“Yes?”, Sehun says, and it comes out more sour than he had expected.

Sehun quickly clears his throat and Chanyeol laughs nervously, rubbing his hands together.

“I don’t really understand this, do you mind helping me?”, the boy asks.

“No, I don’t mind at all,” he hastily answers, trying to cover up for his previous rude attitude, “it’s quite complicated though, do you mind staying after class to work on it?”

Chanyeol bites his lip and looks somewhere on the ground. The low conversations around them in the classroom were the only sound heard as Sehun waited patiently for Chanyeol to make up his mind.

“Yeah, why not. I have one condition though.”

Sehun raises his eyebrow and nods, “Which is?”

“That your driver takes me home afterwards”, Chanyeol explains with a grin, “I’m not allowed to be out after dark.”

Sehun doesn’t really see an issue with this at first, but soon remembers that he himself isn’t allowed to be out after dark either. This sparks an idea.

“I know!”, he exclaims, eyes large as he straightens up in his seat, “you can come and study at my house and then my driver takes you home.”

Chanyeol’s eyes are so round they look like two tennis balls.

“Do… do you mean that?”, he asks in disbelief, his jaw slack.

Sehun nods and shrugs lightly, “We’re friends, remember?”

Chanyeol lets out a thundering laughter at this and Sehun smiles a little.

 

The drive to Sehun’s house is very loud, as it seems Chanyeol has a particularly loud voice. Sehun is rather intimidated by this but tries to laugh along awkwardly whenever Chanyeol bursts out in a loud fit of laughter at a joke or a funny memory. Sehun is relieved when they pull into the driveway and through the large gates. They get out of the car and Sehun’s driver disappears with the vehicle, leaving the two outside the large mansion. Chanyeol has gone awfully quiet, staring up at the large towering building in total silence, his jaw clenched and his grip on his backpack straps tight. Sehun clears his throat and drags Chanyeol inside, pulling him into the hallway.

“Shoes?”, Chanyeol asks. Sehun shakes his head and smiles. Chanyeol doesn’t return it.

“Keep them on.”

They head up two stairs and Sehun feels a bit awkward, humming a little to soften the atmosphere as they march past several hallways and corridors, entering Sehun’s room. Sehun drags his backpack off of his shoulder and hangs it on the back of the door, urging Chanyeol to do the same. They sit down on the sofa’s and Chanyeol is silently inspecting the white interior. Sehun bites his lip, realising that Chanyeol wasn’t as wealthy as Sehun since he, much like Kai, was from Malm.

Sehun almost gasps out loud, stomach twisting uncomfortably, when he remembers Kai, to whom he had made a promise to go visit as soon as he got out of school. His thoughts are interrupted when Chanyeol clears his throat and opens up his notebook.

“So, the ambiguous case?”  
Sehun nods, clicking his pen and glancing over at Chanyeol’s notes.

“There are two solutions for those”, he explains slowly, “here, let me show you.”

It takes quite a while before they finish. Sehun tries to bring up examples from class, but it seems as though Chanyeol wasn’t paying attention today. They work for a solid forty minutes before Chanyeol gets the hang of it, and his face lights up in relief.

“Thank you, Sehun. I have no idea what I would do without you,” Chanyeol admits and smiles weakly at the younger who returns the gesture.

 

 

Fifteen minutes following the previous event consist of Sehun leading Chanyeol out of the mansion and back to the car, then rushing straight into the woods without returning to his bedroom to change first. His heart is racing as he stumbles through the abyss of leaves and greens, the skies hanging dark grey above the tree crowns. The wind is icy but Sehun is determined to get to the lake-house instantly. He stops by the lake, jogging the rest of the way and feeling his throat go dry as he catches his breath. Sehun steps onto the small porch and proceeds to open the door, again without knocking, entering the welcoming warmth of the lake-house.

“Kai,” Sehun calls, breath still shaky.

A muffled response comes from the other side of the room, and Sehun shuts the door behind him, kicking his dress-shoes off by the door. Sehun realises he hasn’t gotten dressed yet, and is still clad in his school uniform as he plops on the sofa, resting next to the cuddled up figure under the blankets next to him. The fire has been set up again, and Sehun finds himself mentally cursing at himself for not telling Kai how the fireplace works. He could have frozen to death, Sehun finds himself thinking.

“I’m happy that you know how to light a fire,” Sehun sighs, bringing his knees up to his chest.

Kai stretches his legs and arms out, looking at Sehun with a crinkle-eyed grin.

“Everyone and their ancestors knows how to light a fire, pretty boy,” he chuckles and opens one side of the cocoon of blanket he has created for himself, offering Sehun a spot under his wing. Sehun hesitates for a second before accepting the invitation, resting his own uniform-clad arm against Kai’s and relaxing in the shared warmth of body heat _. Covalent bonding_ , he thinks briefly before giggling. He instantaneously feels an overwhelming want to sleep, curling up next to Kai and shutting his eyes. This makes the older man laugh, ruffling Sehun’s light brown strands of hair with his warm hand, and Sehun whines softly against the blanket.

“Is that yout school uniform?”, Kai asks, voice dropping an octave as he speaks.

Sehun hums, nodding.  
“They’re only popular in the richer districts,” Kai continues, sighing as he continues stroking the younger boy’s hair, “I used to go to school in my work attire.”

Sehun looks up at Kai, who is glowing in warm tones of honey and gold and nectar in the light of the dancing fire.

“You _worked_ as a child?”

Kai nods and the edges of Sehun’s lips point down at this.

“We didn’t really have a choice, we had to help our family out. Or whatever was left of it,” Kai mutters, and Sehun feels it is best not to ask more.

“My apologies for being late,” he says, swiftly changing topic.

Kai laughs, and Sehun feels the vibrations coming from Kai’s body. It is weird, feeling somebody else laugh through your own body. Sehun looks up at Kai in fascination.

“It’s okay, but you were starting to worry me though,” Kai snorts, “thought you had abandoned me.”

“I was helping Chanyeol with trigonometry,” Sehun explains.

He feels Kai’s body tense next to his, and blinks in confusion.

“Do you know him?”, Sehun asks.

He feels stupid as soon as the words leave his lips; of course he would know him, they’re both from the same city.

“Chanyeol who?”, Kai asks.

They make eye contact. Sehun feels himself shrink in size and tares his eyes away.

“Park Chanyeol.”

Kai hums and looks at the fireplace, “Yeah, he’s the son of a doctor at St. Tripoli’s in the district I lived in.”

“Oh,” Sehun breathes, looking back at Kai again, whose face was unreadable.

They stay like this for a while before Sehun’s eyelids go heavy and force shut, and everything is peaceful and quiet as he falls asleep in front of the fireplace with Kai.

 

 

“Sehun”, Kai calls as he shakes the younger a little.

Sehun groans and rubs his eyes, opening them and squinting at the face above his. This is when he realises he is practically using Kai’s chest as a pillow and draws himself back instantly. Kai laughs again and Sehun fixes his hair.

“It’s getting late and you’ve got school tomorrow. You should go back before your parents get worried”, Kai says with a gentle smile. Sehun can only nod and yawn, not even bothering to explain that his parents never care before untangling himself from the blanket and getting up on unsteady legs.

“Careful”, Kai mumbles as he stands up. He helps Sehun get to the door, but the younger of the two is drunk on sleep and it’s a particularly cold night, which makes Sehun even more reluctant to walking up to the house so late.

“I’ll go with you,” Kai offers, quickly walking back to the couch to get the blanket again. Sehun can only nod and oblige, as he is too tired to argue. He is still only wearing his school uniform, no jacket over it either. Kai wraps Sehun in the blanket, carefully making sure his neck is protected from the wind before opening the door and shutting the lamps behind him.

“Do you have the keys?”, Kai mumbles and Sehun nods, picking them off of the hook next to the door. They lock the door and exit the warm lake-house, beginning their usually-five-minutes-but-longer-today-walk back to the mansion. Kai holds an arm around Sehun’s waist and guides him about halfway, but it is difficult when he doesn’t even know where they are heading.

“Sehun”, Kai calls, snapping the younger out of his trance. They are standing next to a tree, and it looks as if Sehun is about to walk right into it.

“Are you really that sleepy?”, Kai asks while sighing heavily, which causes Sehun to giggle uncontrollably. Kai mutters something under his breath about _‘unruly brats’_ and then grips Sehun’s thighs and under his back as he lifts him up bridal style. Sehun isn’t giggling anymore.

“Kai, what are you doing?”, Sehun asks, voice small as Kai begins to walk in his own pace in the same direction they were headed in. Sehun snuggles closer to Kai, stealing his warmth and humming in appreciation.

“Just tell me where to go. Trust me, you were walking in slow motion.”

Sehun frowns, “No I wasn’t. And are you going to go back down after?”

“Don’t know, what do you think?”

Sehun thinks about that for a bit before coming to a conclusion.

“We have lots of space, you should come with me.”

Kai laughs a little and speeds his pace up a bit.

“You’re so fucking cute.”

This makes Sehun gasp a little, and Kai raises an eyebrow, eyes still on the dark forest in front of them.

“You cursed”, Sehun states bluntly.

The older of the two snorts and grins a little, “Whoopsies.”

Sehun decides to let it go and remains quiet until they reach the entrance to the mansion.

“There are security cameras by the gates but we can get in through the second entrance with no problem,” Sehun says as they get closer to the house, and Kai gently puts Sehun down on the ground. He clears his throat before continuing; “We need to avoid my aunt and the maids though.”

Kai rolls his eyes and follows Sehun, who is heading forward towards the mansion to what Kai assumes is the second entrance. The large gravel parking with the pouring sound of the fountain welcomes them, and Sehun sneaks past the main gates to the second entrance, which leads to the wine and alcoholic storage room. Sehun notices that Kai doesn’t make a single sound while they make their way in, while Sehun is panting and his dress shoes are clacking against the stone floor in the room. He makes an effort to breathe quieter as they continue into the kitchen then into the first entrance and then upstairs. Sehun rushes to his room, euphoric over the fact that they made it all the way there without being caught.

“We did it!”, Sehun cheers as Kai catches up with him, chuckling a little at Sehun’s reaction. The younger of the two drags him into his bedroom, shutting the door before falling flat on his back onto the bed, exhaling as he does so. Kai looks around in the spacious room as Sehun catches his breath.

“Nice room”, he comments. Kai begins to walk towards the desk area and Sehun lets out a breathy ‘thanks’. His hands raise to touch the sightly torn notebook on the table, Sehun’s name, school and year year group written in black ink on the front.

“You’re in grade 10?”, Kai asks, voice low. Sehun shakes his head.

“That book is from last year, I’m in grade 11 now.”

Kai simply hums in response and his eyes roam the rest of the white desk. It is somewhat cluttered by pens, ink cartridges and pieces of parchment. On top of this there is a laptop carelessly placed near the edge of the desk, one simple shake of the table would send it crashing to the wooden floor. Sehun doesn’t have to tell Kai to move it, he does so on his own when he notices it and Sehun relaxes.

“Thank you”, Sehun mutters. Kai doesn’t move a face muscle in response, which makes Sehun gulp and hug his knees.

“Chanyeol is in your grade?”

Sehun nods instantly, at which Kai just chuckles and shakes his head in disbelief.

“Is there something funny about that?”, Sehun asks, uncertain if he should ask or not.

Kai’s lips are still curved into a smug smile when he shakes his head.

“No, no. Or well — you’ll see eventually.”

 

 

Sehun has just came back into his bedroom, a mattress folded and carried across his chest as he notices Kai lying on the armchair, a blanket draped over his body and his head lying on the armrest while he flipped through one of Sehun’s books. He frowns when he recognises it.

“All Quiet on the Western Front?”, Sehun asks bitterly, dragging the mattress behind him as he enters the room and shuts the door.

“Yes”, Kai answers briefly, eyes still roaming the pages. Sehun frowns and throws the mattress onto the marble floor.

“I brought this for you to sleep on.” Sehun sighs, walking towards his bed and lying down beneath the covers. He practically purrs as he snuggles into them and curls into a ball, unaware of the eyes that follow his moves over the book.

“I don’t want to sleep on the floor,” Kai huffs and Sehun raises his eyebrows.

“And why is that?”, he asks.

“Because of the spiders,” Kai simply explains. Sehun is confused at first, and is about to question this, but realises what he means and feels his blood run cold.

“You…”, he sits up, staring at Kai with wide eyes, “you read my diary?”

Kai hums and nods, not even bothering to look up from his book— no, _Sehun’s_ book.

“How could you do that?”, Sehun cries out, now catching Kai’s attention. He looks at Sehun with a sly smirk.

“Because it was interesting. You sure did treat your classmates unfairly in ninth grade.”

Sehun’s jaw drops.

“That’s my personal diary! You can’t just invade other people’s personal belongings!”

Kai puts the book down at this and sits up properly.

“Why not? Who says I have to be grateful for how you’re treating me? How you’re sharing your home so heroically and how you’re feeding me and helping me hide from your guards and parents. These aren't my actions, they’re yours. _You_ chose to do this, and like it or not, I am an annoying bastard, Sehun. If you don’t like it, you can run to your parents and tell them there’s a creepy old man half asleep in your bedroom.”

Sehun doesn’t know how to reply to this, and feels himself go weak under Kai’s intense stare. He looks down on the floor and pouts a little, unsure of what to do now.

“Sehun”, Kai starts, voice raspy as he pulls Sehun’s gaze back up, “I didn’t mean I’m not grateful, that came out terribly wrong, I just… I don’t want to be controlled, Sehun. I want to be in control.”

Sehun slowly nods at this, feeling he might not understand completely but at least he can sort of see what Kai is trying to say. He bites his lip and silently studies Kai’s face as he sighs and gets up from the armchair.

“Thank you for the mattress”, Kai mutters before pulling the blankets onto it and lying down on it to make himself comfortable, “but I meant what I said. If you don’t want me here, please don’t make me be a burden.”

Sehun notices the emphasis behind the word ‘make’, and nods again.

“Goodnight, Kai”, he whispers before curling up into a small ball in his bed.

The last thing Sehun thinks before going to sleep is that he is somehow thankful he doesn’t have to explain to Kai why he has left the night light open. He feels a bit embarrassed, but would rather have Kai read it from Sehun’s diary than to have him ask uncomfortable questions. Sehun exhales before shutting his eyes, his breathing relaxed as he drifts away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this isn't such a long chapter, only between 2.5 and 3k words  
> im really tired rip

 

Class commences as usual the day after, and Sehun is accompanied by Chanyeol in maths class since he is aware of the others struggles in the subject. Sehun’s gaze is steadily set on his notebook as the clock ticks away the seconds, and he glances over at Chanyeol every now and then. The other seems to be deeply immersed in whatever problem he was solving. Sehun licks his lips and takes a deep breath, trying to avert his attention back onto the trigonometry problem he was solving.

A knock on the door interrupts the silence in the classroom, and Sehun jumps a little at the sound. He runs a hand through his hair and watches the door open slowly, the head of the nurse peeking inside the room and before shutting the door behind her quietly and walking towards Chanyeol and Sehun’s table with rushed steps and a forced smile.

“Park Chanyeol, right? May I have a word with you outside?”, she asks with a low, almost whispering voice, as people avert their attention back to their work. Chanyeol looks up and shows wide and round eyes, his full lips parting slightly as he faces her, then quickly throwing Sehun a terrified glance. Sehun clears his throat and smiles a little, trying to reassure him that it is perfectly safe.

“I have class”, Chanyeol blurts out, and Sehun mentally slaps his own forehead.

“Yes, dear, but your health form has got to be filled out. I’ve already spoken to your teacher about it.”, she explains with the same hushed tone. To confirm what she just said, she nods towards the beaming teacher in the front of the room, who gives Chanyeol a thumbs up behind his massive glasses. Sehun almost frowns; _why_ _are they acting so strange?_

“But I don’t want to go with you”, Chanyeol argues, and Sehun has to bite his lip hard to stop himself from grinning.

“Oh, but if your friend comes with you. Would that be alright? He could guide you back to class as well”, the teacher suggests, placing a hand on Sehun’s shoulder, “right, Sehun?”

_Oh_.

Sehun gulps and nods, his lips forming a thin line.

“Okay”, Chanyeol sighs.

 

Sehun would rather be anywhere else at this moment. He kicks the edge of the rug on the floor, causing it to fold over before dragging his shoe along it and sinking deep into the chair in the nurse’s office. Chanyeol is biting his lip and intertwining his fingers as the nurse takes out a document from a drawer.  
“Okay, Chanyeol. I need you to confirm these details, is that alright with you?”, the nurse asks, voice sweet as sugar. Sehun crinkles his nose in disgust and Chanyeol nods, his eyes wide open.

“This won’t take long, I promise”, she starts, before flipping the page in her hand over. There is a picture of Chanyeol clipped onto the other side and Sehun almost gasps out loud.  
Clipped to the back of this document is a thick polaroid framed Park Chanyeol, hair wilder and more tousled than ever and his narrow eyes dark and glinting with hatred towards the camera. He is clad some sort of white attire, and Sehun feels more confused than ever.

“This was taken last year?”, she asks, and Sehun’s lips are parted because _why is she not reacting_? He furrows his eyebrows and looks over at Chanyeol, who has his jaw clenched as he nods again.  
“You were nineteen?”

Chanyeol nods.

_Nineteen._

Sehun’s jaw drops. Chanyeol was 19 years old in this picture? That means he is now—

“You’ve recently turned 20?”

Chanyeol nods, rather slowly this time, and Sehun’s head is flooded with questions as his eyes flicker between the nurse and Chanyeol.

“You were a patient at St. Tripoli’s institute?”, she continues, taking notes without looking up from her papers. Sehun recognises that name from the conversation yesterday with Kai, but Chanyeol is quiet for a long time before answering this. Sehun shivers when he glances at the photo again, the sick boy from two years ago looking absolutely unrecognisable. He, looks up at the same man, starts to think the silence is uncomfortable, and he wonders why he was brought here in the first place if the meeting was going to include such private details. Isn’t this violating some sort of personal boundaries?

“I was”, Chanyeol finally answers, and she nods in response, now looking up at him with a thoughtful face expression.

“Park Chanyeol? Park, like the—“

“Yes, like the founder of the institute. I am his one and only son”, Chanyeol spits out bitterly, fists clenching in his lap. The nurse lets out a strained laugh before dropping her pen, leaning back in her chair and sighing heavily.

“That would be all, Chanyeol. You can go back to class now.”

 

Sehun shuts the door behind him with a heavy sigh when they leave the nurses office.

“Chanyeol-ah?”

The tousled hair boy has his hands in his front pockets and looks out the windows, vision caught by the windy weather and the way they sway the leaves and trees outside. Sehun carefully walks towards the window and looks up at Chanyeol when he stands next to him. The tall boy’s face has an unmistaken frown on it, and Sehun clears his throat before speaking.

“Hyung… are you alright?”, he asks carefully, hands clasped together behind his back. Chanyeol only shrugs, absent minded and without making eye contact.

“She said you were a patient at that hospital”, Sehun continues, licking his lips, “are you… i don’t know, embarrassed?”

This seems to catch Chanyeol’s attention and he fixates his eyes onto the younger boy.

“Hospital?”, he asks, an almost mocking smile forming on his full lips. Sehun gulps and nods, remembering that Kai had mentioned it.

  
“Sehun-ah, what do you know about St. Tripoli’s?”, Chanyeol asks, eyes darting between Sehun’s face and behind him in the corridor.

  
“Nothing really”, Sehun answers with a sigh, and Chanyeol lets out a nervous laughter, which confuses Sehun even more.

“I am alright, thank you for asking”, he concludes before starting to wander away from the window. Sehun follows without really knowing what to say. He rubs his neck and looks around in the corridor as they walk back to class.

“Was that really you in the photo?”, Sehun asks, just to be sure. Chanyeol gives Sehun a strange look, his eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

“Of course, Sehun.”

The younger of the two bites his lip and they make a turn, now heading through the last corridor back to maths class.  
“Aren’t you a bit too old to be in 11th grade?”, Sehun finally asks, unable to get the thought out of his head.

“Probably”, Chanyeol grins.

It dawns on Sehun now — he realises what Kai thought was _so funny l_ ast night. 

 

_“Chanyeol is in your grade?”_

_Sehun nods instantly, at which Kai just chuckles and shakes his head in disbelief._

_“Is there something funny about that?”, Sehun asks, uncertain if he should ask or not.  
Kai’s lips are still curved into a smug smile when he shakes his head._

 

He bites his lower lip and they knock on the door to the maths classroom.

 

 

 

“Both fingers on the _E_ string, Sehun! You have to get this correctly before Sunday!”, Mrs. Kang yells, interrupting Sehun’s lacking violin performance and actually throwing her notes into the air in frustration. Sehun stops playing, his lips forming the letter ‘O’ as he watches his teacher compose herself, steady her breathing and recollect the note papers quickly before clearing her throat. That was the first time she had lost it like that during the seven years she had taught him.

“Start over”, she orders, adjusting her glasses.

Sehun obliges, now trying harder since he doesn't want to anger his teacher even further. His mind is distracted though, and he keeps thinking about the events that occurred earlier that day.

_Chanyeol is a grown man. Chanyeol has been assigned to a hospital. Chanyeol said_ —

“ _Sehun!_ ”, Mrs. Kang shrieks, and Sehun’s chin-rest leaves his jaw and the entire instrument goes slack in his grip. “What did I just tell you a minute ago about the _E_ -string?!”

 

Sehun’s teacher most likely hates him by the time practise is over. He thinks about this as he grabs his backpack and is about to head to the lake-house, but gasps when he collides with a body as he heads towards the stairs and feels arms around his shoulders to shield him from a fall.

“Kai! I thought I told you not to come here unless I’m here with you!”, Sehun whispers loudly, looking around in the wide hallway and self consciously wriggling out of Kai’s grip.

“I never left, actually. By the time you woke up and got ready for school, I was already in the library.”

Sehun gasps and Kai just grins, teeth and all, unashamed.

“The library— You went to my father’s private library?”, Sehun whispers, and smacks his own forehead when Kai nods bluntly. “My God, you could have been seen!”

“By whom — your _daddy_?”, Kai asks, leaning against the doorframe to Sehun’s room with folded arms and a mocking smirk, and before Sehun has time to ask how he knew about this, he adds, “I have read your precious diary, remember?”  
Sehun is too tired to be mad at Kai for this, and just sits on his bed, shoulders hunched and his eyes on his own feet. Yes, he had indeed written about his father’s constant absence in his diary. After all, it was a major trigger for his loneliness growing up. His aunt had always been present in the place of his parents, since they had to work for long days and travel far away. The few times his father was home, dressed in a white button up that he hadn’t bothered to remove from his fancy suits, Sehun had seen him hovering over thick books in his library, not sparing his son a glance when he came in to ask what he was reading. He would reply without a single change of tone, that Sehun ought to go back to his bedroom and study. And so his aunt would guide him back, and the pale boy would follow her without a thought of disobedience.

“You wouldn’t get kicked out by my _daddy_ , you’d get kicked out by my _scary_ _aunt_ ”, Sehun mutters, originally sour, but his expression changes throughout the sentence and he is grinning while leaning back on his bed with a content sigh.  
“I don’t doubt it,” Kai chuckles, eyes forming crescents, “do you really call him _daddy_ , though?”

Sehun blinks, shaking his head in reply, “No, I was just copying you. Why are you asking?”

Kai looks at Sehun with a thoughtful expression, a hand now resting on his chin.  
“What did you call him again?”  
“Father?”, Sehun says slowly, the statement sounding more like a question while he sits up in his bed.  
“Yes, what did you call him just now.”  
“The same thing as you ju—“

“ _Sehun_. Repeat. It.”

The teenager sighs, rolling his eyes at Kai’s odd behaviour.

“Daddy,” pause — there’s a thick silence, “I called him daddy.”  
There’s a spark in Kai’s eyes that makes Sehun a bit uncomfortable when he says that, and he finds himself gulping when the older man nears Sehun’s bed, height towering over the younger, who looks at Kai through hooded eyes and licks his lips, absent minded.

“Are you alright?”, Sehun asks, hand coming up to adjust the collar of his button-up. There is another pause.

“I was just curious, Sehun-ah”, Kai concludes before ruffling the younger’s hair and turning around to walk out of the room to _God knows where._

 

 

One ring. Two rings. Sehun picks up the phone.

“Hello?”, he replies, hesitantly twisting the headphone wire as he looks out the window and at the plain landscape of forest and the large parking. It has gone very dark outside on an early hour, a clear sign that winter was indeed on its way. Sehun shivers and brings his jumper higher up to warm his neck, not wanting to think about the scary darkness that the next few months would hold.

“Hello Sehun, I was just wondering if we could meet up tomorrow. I really didn’t understand that circle with lines in trigonometry today.”

_Circle with lines_ , Sehun mentally repeats, sighing at that description of a unit circle and rubbing his temple with shut eyes.  
“Sehun?”  
“ _Oh_! Of course we can, Chanyeol. Should we meet here again, or?”

“If that’s alright, yeah, please.”

“Alright, see you then. Goodnight… hyung.”

Sehun hesitantly added the last word, now knowing for sure that the other boy was older than him. He bites his lip when there is no answer for a few seconds.

“Goodnight, Sehun.”

Chanyeol hangs up first and Sehun looks down at the total call time. That had barely been 30 seconds, he realises and finds himself frowning before he clicks his phone shut and throws it onto his bed. The events earlier that day come to mind, and he finds himself thinking about how to possibly get more information about Chanyeol and his past. Was it rude to ask a potentially sick person about their past illness? How… _how sick was he_? Sehun is leaning against the wall with a tense frown when Kai peeks through the door.

“Are you trying to get wrinkles?”, the older man grunts when he spots the younger. Sehun shakes his head slowly, vision fixed onto one of the butterfly paintings.

“Kai… What do you know about…”, Sehun begins, licking his lower lip thoughtfully, “what do you know about Chanyeol’s illness?”

There is a very long pause. Sehun realises he shouldn’t have asked this when he looks up at Kai, and meets a very strained smile.

“You don’t need to worry about that”, Kai decides, pacing back to the armchair and picking up a new book from the small table next to it.

“So you _do_ know something!”, Sehun exclaims, and Kai flips the book open without a glance at the pale boy, “Why aren’t you telling me?”

“I thought I told you that I don’t owe you a single thing and that you should quit whining about what isn’t within any of your concerns.”

“But he’s my friend!”

Kai glances up from the papers, as if to check whether or not Sehun was serious about this or not.

“No, he isn’t.”

“He is!”

“He is certainly _not_ ”, Kai glares at Sehun, “you’re going to stop talking to that boy.”  
“Was he _that_ sick?”

“He’s—“, Kai stops himself just in time, and his eyes flicker between something wary and something alarming. Sehun straightens his back and folds his arms.

“He’s?”, he tries to push.

“None of your concern.”

“Then I’ll still be his friend. In fact, he is coming over tomorrow.”

Kai isn’t looking at Sehun anymore, his eyes roaming the pages and his legs folded as he reads without a single care in the world. Sehun feels his heart pump rapidly and his fists clench.

“As I said,” Kai repeats, “he is not.”

“What can you do about it anyway?”, Sehun huffs, annoyed. This makes Kai chuckle again.

“Sehun, dear, it’s clear you don’t know much about _me_ , but it’s even clearer you have no idea who _Chanyeol_ really is”, Kai sighs, turning the page over, “so if you decide not to listen to me, I can assure you that I will still get my way no matter what.”

Sehun strolls around the room a bit, thinking of what to say. Kai couldn’t just… kick Chanyeol out, could he? And besides, he still couldn’t know what was going on when Sehun was in school, so why was he even bothering? _‘I just… I don’t want to be controlled, Sehun. I want to be in control’,_ Kai had said the previous night. Sehun found himself doubting Kai’s intentions. Was he really just a control freak or did he have a point? Or… was that perhaps a threat. To whom? Chanyeol or Sehun?

Finally Sehun stops, right in front of him and with his arms hanging by his sides.

“I don’t believe you.”

Kai reacts instantly, his once warm eyes now dark and narrow as he shoves the book aside and bolts up, height now towering over Sehun by a few centimetres, yet his expression was what effected Sehun the most. Kai’s face looks absolutely on fire, his nostrils flaring and his eyes piercing as he grabs a hold of Sehun’s shirt and shoves him up against the nearest wall. Sehun winces when he is slammed against it and turns his head away when Kai comes uncomfortably close to his face for the second time that evening. He gulps and feels his heartbeat in his throat as Kai clicks his tongue so close to the skin just below Sehun’s ear. The teenager feels like a victim to a vampire when his breath hitches from the even closer proximity. Any closer now and Kai would have his lips on Sehun’s neck — or maybe he already did, considering how Sehun was whimpering and shaking against the wall.

“Is Park Chanyeol coming here tomorrow?”, Kai asks slowly, each word playing against his sensitive skin. Sehun’s body reacts without his consent, whining when Kai presses his body against Sehun’s, making him helpless and desperate.

“Kai, please…”

“Please what?”

“ _Stop_ , you’re embarrassing me.”

Kai clicks his tongue again and sighs against the expanse of Sehun’s neck.  
“I guess we’re gonna have to do things my way then”, he says before his lips attach to the side of Sehun’s neck. 

Sehun goes weak, his knees buckling and his pupils widening when Kai’s mouth hungrily drags across the pale skin of the boy, countless whimpers and low moans escaping his lips. Kai stops at a spot just below the ear and sucks gently and carefully, drawing sounds out of Sehun that he didn’t even know he could make.

“I’ll ask again,” Kai says when he pulls away from the trembling boy and looks him in the eyes instead, “is he coming over tomorrow?”

“N-no, fine I g-give up”, Sehun surrenders, breathless as Kai raises his hand and his thumb presses over the spot where his mouth had been.

“Do you _‘give up’_ or do you listen to me because you _know_ I’m right?”, Kai pushes, and Sehun whines again.  
“I know you’re right”, he mutters.

“You what?”  
“ _I know you’re right!”_ , Sehun spits venomously. Kai just laughs and lets go of the younger.

“That’s more like it”, he grins before taking a seat comfortably in the armchair he had obviously grown to like. Sehun doesn’t dare to open his eyes as he rests breathless against the wall, thighs practically trembling and his cheeks warm.

 

 


End file.
